In the Shadow of the Glacier by Vicki Delany

In the Shadow of the Glacierby Vicki Delany
Series: Constable Molly Smith series #1
Genre: Contemporary Mystery (police procedural)
Setting: Trafalgar, British Columbia, Canada
Published by Poisoned Pen Press
E-book, purchased
302 pages
Grade: B+
Synopsis:Trouble is brewing in the small, bucolic mountain town of Trafalgar, British Columbia. An American who came to Trafalgar as a Vietnam War draft dodger has left land and money to the town. But there’s a catch. The money must be used to build a garden to honor draft dodgers.

Initial impressions

I’ve found a new author! I really liked this police procedural about a young police constable in a small town in Canada.

The story

The book begins with Constable Molly Smith who is a rookie for the Trafalger Police Department trying to learn the ropes and dreaming of becoming a detective. Then she finds a body as she’s walking her beat.

A hippie draft dodger died and left property to the town, but only if it is used to honor draft dodgers. Mollie’s mother is among the townspeople in favor of the draft dodger monument.

An American conservative personality comes to town to stir up trouble against the monument and help his ratings back in the U.S.

A local reporter is drawn into the American reporter’s circle and used by him to get local information.

Add in a property developer wanting to build a resort. And a dead body. And a new homicide detective. Lots is happening in the small town of Trafalger.

Constable Smith is assigned to help Detective John Winters with the local aspects of the murder. Detective Winters isn’t too happy to have a green constable trying to show her abilities, but he doesn’t have many options.

Pluses

The characters in this book are one of the reasons this book is a winner.

It’s a trial for Molly being a constable in the town she grew up in. Her hippie parents named her “Moonlight” and people in town still call her that though she likes “Molly” better.

Molly’s mom–Lucy, called Lucky by most everyone–is one of the best characters in the book. She still has her hippie ideals and is horrified her daughter is a police officer and her son is an attorney!

I also love the setting–a small town in the mountains of British Columbia, Canada.

Molly is young and overeager to show she is a good officer. She still has a lot to learn. I can feel for her. It’s hard being young and wanting so much.

I like the historical aspect with the town being a place some of the draft dodgers from the Vietnam War came to when they left the U.S. for Canada.

There’s a lot going on with the demonstrations for and against a draft dodger monument, the possibility of a resort, a murder.

Minuses

I’m not sure there would be a lot of people upset about a monument in Canada to honor draft dodgers in the present day. However, I suppose a conservative broadcaster might be able to stir up anger against it.

And concluding thoughts . . .

I read the second book in this series as soon as I finished this book. I like Molly a lot plus the characters and the setting of the small town created a lot of interest for me.

I’m glad there are a number of books already written in this series.

Have you read this book? How did you like it?

Author info

Vicki Delany began her writing career as a Sunday writer: a single mother of three high-spirited daughters with a full-time job as a computer programmer. Sunday afternoon was – and at that, only now and again – the only time she had to spend all by herself, with a single candle on her desk for a bit of atmosphere, a Bruce Springsteen tape in the tape deck, and a nice cup of tea at her elbow. When she felt like really letting loose, the tea might have turned into a glass of wine.

The years passed, as they tend to do, and the three daughters, somewhat hesitantly, flew the coop, leaving Vicki more time to devote to her writing. In 2007, Vicki took early retirement from her job as a systems analyst with a major bank and sold her house in Oakville, Ontario. After traveling around North America for a year with her dog, Shenzi, she bought a home in bucolic, rural Prince Edward County, Ontario, where she rarely wears a watch and can write whenever she feels like it.

2 Responses to “In the Shadow of the Glacier by Vicki Delany”

I’m always on the lookout for more Canadian authors, and this one sounds promising! I have a soft-spot for stories about rookies – something about their need to prove themselves always makes for a compelling read.Danya recently posted…Review: The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan

I hope you’ll try this series, Danya. I like it a lot. I’m not from Canada, but have a very good friend who lives there and I’m always on he lookout for Canadian authors, too.Jan recently posted…June books on my list . . .

The Notes Version

I love to read...especially fantasy, science fiction and mysteries.

Random things I like--coffee, my family, British TV police procedurals, flowers, color, sitting reading with a cat on my lap, throwing a ball for a dog, comments on my blog.